Coin-actuated stamp-vending machine.



W. A. PAYNE. COiN ACTUATED STAMP VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6.1915. A

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI' l.

W. A. PAYNE.

COIN ACTUATED STAMP VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6, 1915- 1,219,860. Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W'. A. PAYNE.

COIN ACTUATED STAMP VENDING MACHINE.

APPucATldu FILED Dec. 6. 1915.

Patented Mar; 20,- 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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WALLACE A. PAYNE, OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM M. WILLS AND WALTER P. MET-IURIN, BOTH OF STAUN'ION, VIRGINIA.

COIN-ACTUATED STAMP-VENDING MACHINE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

Application filed December 6, 1915. Serial No. 65,235.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE A. PAYNE, a citizen of the Jnited States, and a resident of Staunton, county of Augusta, and State of Virginia, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin- Actuated Stamp -Vending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in coin actuated stamp vending machines and more particularly to the ar rangement of the locking and releasing mechanism in connection with the means for vending the stamps.

In an article of this character it is desirable to vend stamps of one and two cent denominations and in the preferred form as shown in the drawings two sets of locking and releasing mechanisms as well as the vending mechanisms are shown. The one being the duplicate of the other except that the relative parts are larger for the stamps ofthe two cent denomination than the parts for releasing and vending the stamps of the one cent denomination. r

The locking and releasing mechanism as well as the operating means for vending the stamps of the two cent denomination are so arranged that one complete turn of the crank shaft will vend a strip composed of five stamps whereas the mechanism for the one cent stamps delivers but one of the same.

The object of vending the two cent stamps in the strips of five is that there is no coin of two cent denomination now made, and that as the machine is not designed for a profit making one as saytwo two cent stamps for five cents, the machine is arranged to re ceive a ten cent piece and to vend five stamps, so that no mechanism is needed for making change.

Also with a machine of this character five two cent stamps will be sold instead of one or two.

The principle of the machine however would remain the same and different size weights and springs employed for the reCep 'tion of a five cent piece for the delivery of two two cent stamps. 'The preferred form however is that shown in the drawings and forming a part of this specification.

An object of my invention therefore is to provide a machine that will vend with a turn of the crank shaft five two cent stamps after a ten cent piece is placed in the proper receptacle, or the vending of one one cent stamp after the mechanism is released by the reception of a one cent piece in its proper chute.

Another object of my invention is to provide a locking mechanism wherein the deposit of a coin in the chute releases a catch mechanism so that the machine is in a posi tion to be actuated. A turn of the crank arm then releases the coin from its position in the chute resting on the. locking arm, thus permitting the coin to drop in its final receptacle and at the sametime unlocks the roll of stamps.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine wherein after the crankshaft has been turned for a full revolution the crank arm becomes automatically locked and may not be released until the deposit of another coin.

Another object of my invention is to provide a locking mechanism on the roll of stamps connected with the arm actuated by the crank shaft, so that it will be impossible to maliciously ull the stamps out of the slot in the front of the machine.

Still another object of my invention is to provide the catch mechanism on the inner actuating arm so that it will be impossible to invert the machine and shake or pound the same to release the actuating arm and thus steal the stamps from the stamp roll.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a cabinet that will be neat in appearance, containing but relatively few parts, easyto operate, cheap to manufacture, and proof against theft to as great a degree as possible.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain new and novel constructions and combination of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described in the specification and pointed out in the 7 claims. p

In the drawings forming a part hereof Figure l is a perspective view of my improved stamp vending machine.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view with one side of the cabinet removed and with some parts in section.

Fig. 3 is a similar view with some of the parts removed for purposes of illustration.

Fig. i is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4.l: of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. (3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 2,

And Fig. 7 is a detail perspective of the crank shaft or stamp vending means.

Referring now to the drawings, and Fig. 1 in particular a cabinet 1 is shown which may be of any preferable material and in this instance shown as made of stamped metal; and is provided at its rear with a hinged door 2. The cabinet is slightly cut out as at 3 for the' sake of appearance although the outlines as to any part or side may be constructed as desired with the eX- ception of the front which 1s preferably bulged as at at. It is also slightly irregular in shape as at 5 and 6 and is provided with a small slot 7 in the portion 5 and a similar slot 8 in the portion 6. The metal above and below these slots is pressed inwardly as at 9 and 10.

At the upper portion of the cabinet as at 11 a small portion is cut out for the reception of the tubes 12 and 13. Also a crank handle 14: is fitted on a shaft 15 whose end projects through the side of the cabinet and a similar handle 16 is on a shaft 17 positioned directly beneath the above-mentioned Shaft 15.

The purpose of having the face of the cabinet bulged as at e is for the reception of the cams and gears on the shaft 15, it being necessary to have the same well forward of the cabinet so that the stamps when detached from the remaining strip leave the l eginning of the remaining strip as near the slot in front of the cabinet as possible.

Referring now to the interior of the cabinet (and the portions as clearly shown in Fig. 2) there is shown a chute 12 which eX- tends from the top of the cabinet 1 to a po sition near the bottom thereof, the said chute being narrow or constricted at its upper portion as at 18, being just wide enough for the rec .ption of a ten cent piece.

This chute widens out as at 19 but the shoulder 20 is so constructed that when the coin falls on the trip mechanism 21, hereafter to be explained it will still abut against the shoulder 20 although the trip mechanism 21 is in its tipped position.

At the left hand side of the chute there is provided a knob or catch 22 which coop erates with the upper portion of the trip mechanism 21.

This trip mechanism is pivoted to the rear end of the actuating arm 23 and is provided near the pivotal axis with a weight 2%. The lower portion of the said trip mechanism is slightly grooved in both its upper and lower surfaces, one groove for the reception of the coin and the other to correctly strike the actuating arm 23.

hen the coin is dropped upon this trip mechanism the upper portion will be re leased from the catch 22 and the same will tilt downwardly 3nd. rest on the actuating arm as shown in Fig. 3, it being understood however that the weight of the coin alone will not force the actuating arm 23 to the position as shown in Fig. 3, this being. accomplished by the revolving. of the shaft 1-1, the operation of which will shortly be described.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the actuating arm 23 is heavier at its outer end than at its inner end and near this outer end at the said arm is pivoted or fulcrumed.

The normal position for this arm 23,- and it will be understood that a description of the one for the two cent stamps is a description of the other,assumes the position as shown by the lower arm in Fig. 3, that is, the arm is parallel to the base of the cabinet and the lug 27 on the outer end thereof fits or rests within a cutout portion 28 in an irregular shaped cam 29.

A spring 30 is fastened at its lower end to the said actuating arm 23 and at its upper end to the cabinet so that the said actuating arm is retained. in its normal position, and the position of the pivot or fulcrum point 26 nicely and equally balancing the weighted outer end of the arm, so that the lug 27 normally rests in the cutout portion 28 of the irregular cam 29.

Extending downwardly from the actuating arm is a stub arm 31 which is provided with a pivot 32 which fits in a slot formed in a substantially right angular pawl 3a which is pivoted at 35. This pawl operates in connection with a ratchet 36' which is fastened ona shaft 37 on which shaft is positioned the roll of stamps 38, this shaft resting in a U-shaped socket member 39.

Referring now to the shaft 15 (Fig. 7 it will be seen that besides the handle 14 at its outer end there is on its inner en'd'the irregular shaped cam 29, and also there is positioned a gear 10 and a ratchet 41.

This ratchet has a spring pressed pawl 12 bearing against the same so that the handle and shaft may only be rotated in the proper direction.

Positioned above theshaft 15 and the gear 40 are the four rollers 43, 14, 45 and 46, two

of which, 43 and 44 are provided with gears which mesh with the aforementioned gear 40. The two rollers 45' and -16 rest upon the two rollers 43 and 44 and are preferably spring pressed by the springs 47. These springs are relatively strong to hold the rollers tightly against the lower rollers or against the strip of stamps which extends between the upper and lower rollers.

These rollers are preferably made of milled steel rather than rubber as rubber is apt to harden, although any form of rollers may be used.

Inserted between the rollers, that is between the forward and rearward pair, as they might be termed, are two spring or metal guides to insure the strip of stamps after passing between the rear rollers to pass between the forward pair.

Referring now to the chute 13 it will be noticed that it is similar to the chute 12 except that it is a little larger as it is designed to receivea one cent piece, and is directly to one side of the chute 12. At the bottom of the chute is a partition or division so that the ten cent pieces will go in one part of the receptacle and the pennies in the other.

The actuating arm 23 for the one cent pieces is slightly curved throughout the greater part of its length as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6 so that it will be in alinement with the chute 12.

The relation of the gear 40 to the gear on the rollers 43 and 4-4 is such that one revolution of the same will cause the rollers 43 and 44 to revolve sufliciently to feed a strip of five stamps and just passing the contacting edge of the two outer rollers.

The mechanism for the one cent stamps is similarly arranged except one revolution in this instance of the operating shaft rotates the rollers only so far that one one cent stamp will be fed slightly past the contacting point of the two forward rollers.

The operation of the machine is as follows Supposing it be desired to obtain five two cent stamps, a ten cent piece is dropped into the chute marked 12 which coin falls till it strikes the trip mechanism 21, which forces the end thereof off the catch 22, and thereby placing the trip mechanism at an angle. The handle is now turned and as the shaft 15 is rotated, which is possible as the lug moves out of the cutout portion, the long surface of the cam raises the actuating arm to a slightly higher positionwhich permits the dime to roll down the chute into the receptacle at the bottom thereof.- The raising of the actuating arm 23 also actuates the pawl 18 permitting the stamp roll to be revolved.

The operation of the shaft 15 also rotates the gear 40 which in turn revolves the rollers 43 and 4-4 and feeds a strip consisting of five stamps out of the slot in the front of the machine and leaving the perforation of the fifth and sixth stamp slightly beyond the contacting point of the two outer rollers. They may now be torn from the remaining strip.

If the one cent stamp is desired the one cent piece is placed in the chute marked 1 and the lower handle rotated and the stamps feed in a similar manner, but in this instance only one stamp comes out through the slot.

The spring-pressed rollers may have springs of suflicient strength to tightly grip the stamps so that they cannot be pulled from the machine, that is without the handle being revolved but as a precaution the pawl and ratchet on the stamp roll is also provided.

After the rolls of stamps are completely used up the hinged door may be opened and a new roll of stamps placed in position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the stamps will be automatically and regularly vended, that the roll cannot be manipulated except by the revolving of'the handle and that after one complete turn is made the operating means and the stamp roll are again both locked until released by the deposit of another coin. Also with the trip mechanism at the end of the arm it will be seen that the machine although if inverted cannot be actuated as the trip mechanism will be locked on the catch mechanism 22 and cannot be released until a coin is deposited thereon.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a coin controlled vending machine, an operating shaft, a vertical chute, an actuating arm operated by said operating shaft, one end of said actuating arm extending transversely into said chute, and a trip member on said arm for normally holding said arm in locked position and adapted to be tripped by a coin to unlock said arm, the movement of said trip member being limited by said arm.

2. In a coin controlled vending machine, an operating shaft, a cam located on said shaft, a vertical chute, an actuating arm moved by said cam, the rear end of said actuating arm extending into said chute and partly across the same, and means secured to the rear end of said actuating arm and in said chute for normally holding said arm in a locked position.

3. In a coin controlled vending machine, an operating shaft, a cam secured to said operating shaft, an actuating arm raised and lowered by the movement of said cam on said operating shaft, a chute, the rear end of said actuating arm extending transversely into said chute, a spring for holding the actuating arm in its normal position, and a trip mechanism in said chute pivoted on said rear end of said actuating arm for normally holding the same in a locked position.

4. In a coin controlled machine, an operating shaft, an actuating arm operated by said operating shaft, a chute, the rear end of said actuating arm extending into said chute, said chute provided with an enlarged portion, a projection in the enlarged portion of said chute, and a trip member pivoted to the rear end of said actuating arm extending into said chute and adapted to cooperate with the projection in the enlarged portion of said chute to hold the actuating arm in a normally locked position.

5. In a coin controlled machine, an operating shaft, an actuating arm cooperating with said actuating shaft and adapted to be raised and lowered thereby, means for holding the rear end of the said actuating arm in a. horizontal position, a chute, the rear end of said arm extending into said chute and provided with an unevenly balanced trip mechanism, said chute being provided with an enlarged portion, and a projection in said enlarged portion engaged by said trip mechanism to lock the said arm in normal position, and a shoulder in said chute opposite said projection to hold a coin from continuing through said chute until said operating shaft is moved.

6. In a coin controlled machine, an operating shaft, an actuating arm coacting with said operating shaft, a chute, the rear end of said actuating arm extending into said chute, a trip member also located in said chute and pivoted to said actuating arm, said trip member adapted to tip forwardly when struck by a coin, said chute provided with an enlarged portion, and a projection therein engaged by said trip member for normally locking said actuating arm.

Signed at Staunton and State of Virginia this 3rd day of December, A. D. 1915.

VALLACE A. PAYNE.

Witnesses:

J. H. MAY, H. H. KERR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

